News & Public Affairs

Lawmakers are holding a series of meetings across Florida to establish what residents hope to see as Legislative and Congressional districts are-re-drawn early next year. One Pasco County resident called last nightâs redistricting meeting in Wesley Chapel a dog and pony show. State legislators from Bradenton to Miami-Dade County heard an earful from residents like J Porter, who said Pasco County canât be overlooked any longer.

This year the Florida Legislature passed elections laws that some people say will make it more difficult to vote and may even disenfranchise minorities, students, poor or elderly voters. In response, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. is in Tampa this afternoon at a voter empowerment rally. Our reporter Kate Bradshaw joins us on the line now from the rally at the 34th Street Church of God.

Kate will bring you the full report from this Voter empowerment rally on tomorrowâs WMNF d...

The changes passed by the state legislature to Floridaâs voting laws have proved quite controversial.

Several civil liberties, civil rights and voter advocacy groups have criticized the changes. Last month three groups sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, urging the federal government to reject the latest changes to Florida election laws. The Fair Elections Legal Network, Florida Public Interest Research Group and Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment want the feds ...

Tuesday in Downtown Tampa, the Hillsborough Young Democrats plans to file to become a third party voter registration group. WMNFâs Kate Bradshaw spoke to Hillsborough Young Democrats spokesperson Michael Long about the groupâs efforts, which theyâre launching despite a new state law that makes it more likely to be fined by registering voters.

The press conference will take place at noon in front of the County Office Building at 601 East Kennedy Boulevard ...

Governor Rick Scott has set off another firestorm of criticism when he signed a law yesterday that overhauls elections in Florida. The law goes into effect immediately, except in Hillsborough and four other counties in the state.

Hillsborough County was once found to have polling practices deemed racially discriminatory under Section 5 of the [Voting Rights Act of 1965](http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_...

The Florida Legislature passed an election bill that supporters say will help crack down on voting fraud. But opponents, including the League of Women Voters, say there isnât widespread voting fraud and the bill, if signed by Governor Scott, will make it more difficult to vote in Florida. They are asking Governor Rick Scott to veto the election bill. Mickey Castor is president of the Leagueâs Hillsborough County chapter. She is the stepmother of Democratic U.S. Representative Kathy Castor...

The 2011 Florida legislative session, scheduled to end Friday, reportedly progressed into the wee hours of Saturday morning and ended with GOP lawmakers turning on themselves. The St. Petersburg Times says "It was a rocky end to one of the most ambitious and ideological sessions in modern history..."

To help us better comprehend the relentless, 60 day GOP assault on women's rights, worker's rights, voting rights, healthcare, education and the environment we are joined on Friday's Last Ca...

Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up first today Robert Rowen, founder of a local group called Global Action Coalition talks about a Nepali New Year's celebration this Friday in Tampa and his group's effort to provide food and education to school children in Nepal (phone: 813-546-9819).

Later we'll hear from ACLU Florida director Howard Simon about the state Legislature and laws being disc...

Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. The state legislature is considering moves to make it harder to vote. Legislation being considered in Tallahassee would shorten the number of days for early voting, put restrictions on groups that sign people up to vote, and would make it less easy for people who change addresses to vote. Our guest is Brad Ashwell with the Florida Public Interest Research Group. FPIRG and other consumer, civic, human rights and civil libert...